Chamblon: Maurer forces Egli to attack
TOLL SLALOM DUEL With a furious second run, Philip Egli took his fifth win of the season in Chamblon ahead of Marcel Maurer, who was also in great form. Touring car winner Martin Bürki is now the sole SM leader. After the two practice runs on the 4.3 km long course in the barracks area of Chamblon with 66 gates, Philip Egli was a good 1.8 seconds ahead of Marcel Maurer. [...]
After the two practice runs on the 4.3 km course in the Chamblon barracks area with 66 gates, Philip Egli was a good 1.8 seconds ahead of Marcel Maurer. In the first race run, however, Egli did not come close to his own template.
Instead, the man from Berne took the overall lead in his Tatuus-Renault Midland by 2.5 tenths. For the Glarner, who lives in Aargau, this was the signal to attack.
Attack is the best defense
With a second running time that was around two seconds faster, Egli turned the tide with his Dallara. As a result, he relegated his opponent to second place, as he did a week ago.
Philip Egli: "Marcel pushed me. In the first run I didn't drive so well, but I didn't expect a 2'54 time, although I already achieved 2'53 here. At the start I still have some trouble, moreover I am still too long translated. On the other hand, we have now achieved better engine response in the lower rev range with dyno tests at Minichberger, which is now paying off."
Despite the defeat, Marcel Maurer was more pleased with his own performance.
Marcel Maurer: "That was by far my personal best time in Chamblon. In training we changed the gear ratio, which then fitted perfectly. I'm always amazed at what Philip is able to achieve. Congratulations to him."
Strong performance by rookie Eugster
With a first run time of just under three minutes, but a gap of almost 5.5 seconds to Egli and 2.7 to Maurer, Jean-Marc Salomon finished third overall. With his own Tatuus-Honda, the Jura native no longer comes close to his earlier performances with a Bossy Racing rental car.
Once again, slalom and race car newcomer Lukas Eugster made an attacking impression. The man from Herisau shot to fourth place overall in the borrowed Formula Renault with two flawless runs. In doing so, he left Romont third-placed Jeremy Noirat in the TracKing Suzuki and all his race car colleagues with comparable material clearly behind him.
Bürki pulls out all the stops
Like Egli, Martin Bürki felt goaded by an opponent to get the last out of himself and his VW Polo 1600 - although this would not have been necessary. Because the defending champion already had the full 20 points for the class win in the E1-1600 in his pocket after the first race.
The only blemish: Christian Darani was still a few fractions of a second faster in his Fiat X 1/9 from the E1-2000. So Bürki pulled out all the stops and drove really fast for once.
With a time of 2'12.399 he lifted himself to eighth place overall among the racing cars.
Martin Bürki: "I knew that 2'13.5 was possible and treated myself to two new front tires. I drove a bit rougher and at higher speeds, but didn't want to break anything. I really enjoy this time now."
Engine failure in the BMW of Santonastaso
Bürki's joy is all the greater when he now leads the SM standings alone after six of eight races. For the first time, Manuel Santonastaso had to settle for second place in the IS-2000 class behind his RCU colleague Jürg Ochsner in the Opel Kadett. Ochsner's first time - he suffered gearbox damage in the second race - was also enough for the group win in the Interswiss.
In practice, however, "Santi" had been even faster, but there was already an engine failure on the BMW 320. What this means for the further course of the season of the Thurgauer, the autopsy of the engine will show. For the hill climbs, he switches to the newer BMW 320 E21 anyway.
Fight for the top SM positions
Outstanding among the touring cars was otherwise Albin Mächler, who set the third-fastest E1 time behind Bürki and Darani in the big BMW M2.
With his second place in the E1-2000 Patrick Flammer in the skillfully moved Suzuki Swift Evo also stays on the ball for a front place in the championship. Likewise Christoph Zwahlen, who gets along better and better with the Opel Kadett and dominates the IS-3000 without an equal opponent (Köchli accident after TD in Romont, Bürki II engine damage in Interlaken).
SM standings after 6 of 8 runs: 1st Bürki 120 points; 2nd Santonastaso 115; 3rd Egli 115; 4th Zwahlen 110; 5th Mächler 100; 6th Noirat 97.5; 7th Flammer 97; 8th Maurer 89; etc.
After the three-month summer break, the slalom championship will enter its decisive final phase on September 23 in Romont (Drognens) and on October 7 in Ambri.
